MMEA ready to recruit three Abu Sayyaf kidnap victims

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is interested to recruit the three men who were abducted from a tugboat, Serudong Tiga in July last year.
MMEA director-general Admiral Datuk Seri Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said the three of them have the maritime expertise.
He said their recruitment could be carried out through the Public Service Commission (PSC) or as members of the Malaysian Maritime Volunteer Reserve (PSSMM) via through conscription.
"Their interest to join MMEA would be given priority and accorded the same level as other civil servants in line with existing rules," he said in a statement today.
The three abduction victims Fandy Bakran, 27, Mohd Jumadil Rahin, 24 and Mohd Ridzuan Ismail, 33, had expressed their desire to join MMEA at a media conference in the residence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Ahmad Puzi who visited the three men kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf group in Selayang Hospital yesterday, confirmed they wanted to join the agency.
He said the three were familar with the waters in eastern Sabah and could speak the local languages as well as possessing knowledge on the weather and maritime routes there.
"MMEA believes they would be of enormous help to maritime enforcement operations as well as the aspects of protecting the country and people," he said.
The three of them were rescued in an operation in Punay (Publicion) in Panglima Estino, Philippines at 11.30pm on Sunday.
On March 23, another two kidnap victims of Serudong Tiga, Abdul Rahim Summas, 62, and Tayudin Anjut, 45, were rescued by Filipino security forces in the south of that country.
The five of them, who were crew members of the tugboat, was abducted by a group of armed men on July 18 in the waters of Dent Haven in Lahad Datu. — Bernama